Restaurant in El Masnou, Spain
One Michelin star, four days a week. Book ahead.
Tresmacarrons holds one Michelin star (2024) and runs a focused tasting menu format in El Masnou, just outside Barcelona. Open only Wednesday to Saturday with two sittings daily, booking is hard — plan weeks ahead. Chef Miquel Aldana's seasonally driven Catalan cooking and the family-run warmth of the operation make this a strong choice for food-focused travellers wanting regional depth over theatrical scale.
Tresmacarrons runs a tight operation. Open only Wednesday through Saturday, with lunch sittings ending at 2:30 PM and dinner at 9:30 PM, this is not a restaurant you can decide to visit on a whim. The name itself signals intent: tresmacarrons is a reference to Michelin's stars, which the French call macarons colloquially — and the restaurant currently holds one of them (2024). If you want to eat here, plan weeks ahead. Booking difficulty is rated hard, and the limited weekly schedule means availability disappears fast.
Tresmacarrons sits at Av. Maresme, 21 in El Masnou, a coastal town in the El Maresme comarca of Barcelona province — roughly 20 kilometres northeast of Barcelona along the Mediterranean coast. The El Maresme area matters here: chef Miquel Aldana builds the menu around what this stretch of coastline and its hinterland produces seasonally. This is not a restaurant flying in ingredients to perform global cuisine; the focus is on Catalan produce adapted to the time of year. For food and wine explorers who prioritise regional specificity over international ambition, that focus is a meaningful differentiator.
The dining room reads as modern and welcoming rather than stiff or ceremonial. This is a family-run restaurant, and that character carries through in the atmosphere. One of the more tangible expressions of that is the tableware: front of house manager Núria Orra was personally involved in its design and production. What you eat off here was conceived specifically for this space, which gives even a simple course a degree of visual coherence you would not expect at every one-star level. The room does not perform luxury , it performs care, which for many diners at the €€€€ tier is the more satisfying of the two.
Google reviewers rate the experience 4.6 across 735 reviews, which for a fine dining restaurant at this price tier is a strong signal of consistent delivery. One-star restaurants in Spain can polarise opinion when the food leans too experimental; Tresmacarrons' score suggests the kitchen finds a balance that works for a broad range of serious diners.
Two tasting menus are offered: the shorter Corto and the fuller Tresmacarrons menu. No à la carte option is confirmed in available data. For first-time visitors, the Corto menu is a sensible starting point if you want to assess the kitchen before committing to the full length experience. Return visitors or those who have come specifically for the deep dive into Aldana's Catalan cooking should go for the full Tresmacarrons menu. The kitchen's philosophy, per Michelin's own notes, centres on the pleasure of doing the job well , a framing that suggests precise, confident execution over provocation or shock.
No wine list is published in available data, but the context here is worth reading carefully. A one-star Catalan kitchen with a strong regional sourcing philosophy, operating in El Maresme , a Barcelona province comarca with its own wine-producing identity within the broader Catalonia denomination , is almost certainly not running a generic list. Restaurants at this level in this region typically anchor their wine programmes to local and Spanish producers, often with serious depth in Penedès, Priorat, and Terra Alta. For wine-focused visitors, the practical advice is to ask for the sommelier's pairing at booking, not as an afterthought at the table, and to specifically enquire about producers from the El Maresme area and broader Catalan coast. If regional wine depth matters to your visit, raise it when you reserve , family-run one-star restaurants at this level tend to reward guests who signal genuine interest. For the full picture on wine experiences in the area, see our full El Masnou wineries guide.
Tresmacarrons is a well-matched choice for food and wine travellers combining a Barcelona trip with a coastal excursion. It is not a destination restaurant requiring a dedicated journey from another country , it works as a serious regional lunch or dinner extension of a Barcelona itinerary. The €€€€ price tier puts it in the same bracket as Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, which runs two Michelin stars and a more theatrical format. If you want a large-scale production, go there. If you want a focused, family-run, seasonally driven Catalan one-star with genuine local character, Tresmacarrons is the better fit.
Explorers looking to extend into Spain's broader fine dining circuit can benchmark Tresmacarrons against El Celler de Can Roca in Girona for three-star scale, or consider Quique Dacosta in Dénia and Ricard Camarena in València for comparable one-to-three-star regional cuisine along the Mediterranean coast.
Open Wednesday to Saturday only. Lunch: 1:00 PM–2:30 PM. Dinner: 8:00 PM–9:30 PM. Closed Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Price tier: €€€€. Booking difficulty: hard. No walk-in option should be assumed at this level. Reserve as far in advance as possible, particularly for Saturday dinner. No phone or website confirmed in current data , check current booking channels through Google or Michelin's own listings before travelling.
For more on what to eat, drink, and do in the area, see our full El Masnou restaurants guide, our full El Masnou hotels guide, our full El Masnou bars guide, and our full El Masnou experiences guide.
Booking difficulty is rated hard. With only four service days per week and two sittings daily, availability is limited. There is no confirmed online booking link in current data. Check Michelin's guide listing or Google for current reservation channels. Do not leave this until you arrive in Barcelona.
| Venue | Location | Price | Stars | Open Days | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tresmacarrons | El Masnou | €€€€ | 1 Michelin | Wed–Sat | Hard |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Barcelona | €€€€ | 2 Michelin | Broader schedule | Hard |
| El Celler de Can Roca | Girona | €€€€ | 3 Michelin | Seasonal | Very Hard |
| Quique Dacosta | Dénia | €€€€ | 3 Michelin | Seasonal | Very Hard |
| Ricard Camarena | València | €€€€ | 2 Michelin | Tue–Sat | Hard |
Yes, if seasonal Catalan cuisine at the one-star level is what you are after. The kitchen operates exclusively on tasting menus , Corto (shorter) and the full Tresmacarrons , so there is no à la carte alternative. At €€€€ pricing you are paying for precise, regionally grounded cooking from chef Miquel Aldana, not theatrical spectacle. If you want more theatrical ambition at a higher star count, Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona runs two stars and a more expansive format. Tresmacarrons is the better choice if focus and regional character matter more to you than scale.
Yes , the combination of a Michelin star, family-run warmth, and bespoke tableware designed by front of house manager Núria Orra makes this a more personal experience than larger fine dining operations. The room reads as welcoming rather than formal, which suits celebratory meals where conversation matters as much as the food. Saturday dinner is the obvious peak booking for occasions; reserve well in advance given the hard booking difficulty and limited four-day-per-week schedule.
Lunch has a practical edge for most visitors: El Masnou is a daylight coastal town, and arriving for the 1:00 PM sitting allows you to experience the area in context. Dinner sittings begin at 8:00 PM and close at 9:30 PM , tighter than many Spanish fine dining operations. If you are travelling from Barcelona specifically for this meal, lunch is also logistically simpler. Neither sitting changes the menu format, so the decision is mainly about how you want to structure your day.
Tasting menu formats generally work well for solo diners , you are not ordering for a table, just progressing through a set sequence. The family-run, welcoming atmosphere described by Michelin and reflected in the 4.6 Google rating suggests counter or small-table service without the formality that can make solo dining uncomfortable at stiffer fine dining venues. That said, seat count is not confirmed in available data, so contact the restaurant directly when booking to confirm the leading seating arrangement for one.
No group capacity data is confirmed. As a family-run one-star with a tasting menu format, large party bookings are unlikely to be the primary use case. For groups of four or more, contact the restaurant directly before assuming availability. If you need a fine dining group experience in Barcelona province with confirmed private dining options, Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona is a more established option for larger bookings.
There is no à la carte menu , the kitchen runs exclusively on two tasting menus. For a first visit, the shorter Corto menu is a reasonable way to assess the kitchen's approach before committing to the full Tresmacarrons menu. The cooking draws on seasonal Catalan produce tied to the El Maresme area, so what appears on either menu will shift across the year. For wine, ask specifically about regional pairings when you book rather than deciding at the table.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tresmacarrons | €€€€ | Hard | — |
| Aponiente | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Arzak | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Azurmendi | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| DiverXO | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Tresmacarrons and alternatives.
It works for solo diners who are comfortable with a tasting menu format. The family-run character and the front-of-house attention from Núria Orra tend to make single covers feel looked after rather than overlooked. At €€€€ pricing with only two sittings per day, it is worth calling ahead to confirm solo availability given how quickly tables fill across the four-day week.
For a one-Michelin-star kitchen in a coastal town 20 minutes from Barcelona, the tasting menu format is where this restaurant earns its price tier. Chef Miquel Aldana's approach is seasonal and rooted in the El Maresme region, which gives the Tresmacarrons menu more specificity than a generic tasting format. The shorter Corto menu is the better entry point if you are unsure about the full commitment or dining with someone less invested in a long meal.
Groups are possible but the limited weekly operation — Wednesday to Saturday only, two sittings per day — means coordinating a large party requires early planning. With booking difficulty rated hard, a group of four or more should expect to reserve several weeks in advance at minimum. No private dining room is confirmed in available data, so check the venue's official channels to discuss group-specific arrangements.
Tresmacarrons runs tasting menus only — the Corto and the fuller Tresmacarrons menu — with no confirmed à la carte option. First-timers should consider the Corto if this is a first encounter with the kitchen. Those making a specific trip to El Masnou for the restaurant are better served by the full Tresmacarrons menu, which gives a more complete read on Miquel Aldana's Catalan-rooted cooking.
Yes, with the right expectations. This is a family-run one-Michelin-star restaurant with a modern but welcoming room, not a formal ceremony space. The tableware is custom-designed by front-of-house manager Núria Orra, which adds a layer of personal detail most special-occasion restaurants at this price tier lack. The combination of €€€€ pricing, hard-to-book sittings, and a coastal setting outside Barcelona makes it a strong choice for a milestone dinner with a food-focused guest.
Lunch has a practical edge: the 1:00 PM sitting works well if you are combining the meal with a day trip along the El Maresme coast, and a daytime finish leaves the evening open. Dinner at 8:00 PM suits those coming directly from Barcelona who want the full occasion feel without a daytime commitment. Both sittings end at fixed times — 2:30 PM and 9:30 PM respectively — so neither runs long.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
